ALFRED (871 - 899)
Historians writing in the 16th century first called him Alfred the Great, an epithet other writers took up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, citing his patriotism, support for education and championing of the rule of law as their reasons for bestowing the name on a pious Christian king. However, his laws, schools, even his country might have withered away had he not waged war against the Great Heathen Army led by the Danes.
Alfred evolved a system of defensive forts or burghs around the country, each with its own assigned troops; each a place of refuge for local people in times of danger; each a trading centre and mint. Half of his
